Source Information

About Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980

This database contains selected Australian electoral rolls, with the exception of South Australia, that run from 1903-1980. Electoral rolls were compiled by each state during election years to determine the number and names of individuals eligible to vote. Information listed in electoral rolls usually includes:

Number

Name of voter

Gender

Address

Occupation

Who will be listed in electoral rolls:

Electoral rolls began being compiled for some areas of Australia in the 1840s. At that time only property owners were eligible to vote. In most of the colonies all men were granted voting rights by the 1850s. Half a century later, women were granted voting rights as well.

Non-British subjects were not allowed to vote until the 1940s and aborigines until 1949. Therefore, individuals falling into these two categories are not presently included in this database.

Arrangement of Records:

Within each state voters were organized into electoral districts and subdistricts according to where they lived. Electoral rolls were compiled according to these geographical divisions. The boundaries of districts and subdistricts could change throughout the years.

Why Use Electoral Rolls:

Electoral rolls are great records to use as “census substitutes.” They are useful when census records are either not complete or non-existent, and are usually available in between census years. Because electoral rolls were published on a fairly consistent basis and are generally country-wide, they are useful for tracking individuals over time and place.

State and Years Presently Included:

This database currently includes electoral rolls for the following states and years. Those marked by asterisk have been transcribed. For all other years, the records were extracted using a new OCR indexing method. They were not transcribed. We encourage you to correct any errors you find in the data by going to the image and editing the name in the correction panel at the bottom of the page.

Browse Individual Records in this Title

Related data collections

Contained in this database is a collection of the Sand’s directories for Sydney and New South Wales, Australia from 1861–1933. Available directories are for the years 1861, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1890, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930. There are usually several sections in each directory including an index of alphabetical names, street addresses, and commercial addresses.

This database contains electoral rolls for New South Wales, Australia from 1842-1864. Electoral rolls were compiled by the state during election years to determine the number and names of individuals eligible to vote. Representative government essentially began in 1843 with the election of members of the Legislative Council. Information listed in electoral rolls may include: name of voter, year, district, ward, and nature of qualification.All Census & Voter Lists in the Card Catalogue